I'm not going to be going too much in depth here because, let's face it, I didn't like the last two Big Crossover stories IDW did, so I've only myself to blame for buying out of obligation and getting stuff I don't like.

So ignoring the Sentinel bits (beyond suggesting you see how many times you can shout "JUST SHOOT HIM!" during the last scene)...Loved Red Alert and Fort Max though it does feel like it's pushing Cerebrus as the new Getaway (implied sinister past! Wants to do things to peoples minds!) a bit too hard. It'd be amazing if he doesn't turn out to be a lovely fellow really. He also seems to be overworked, we already know he does psychology and it seems he looks after the prison and does brain surgery as well.

I also really appreciated the last appearance of Max being followed up amidst all this. Possibly baffling to anyone here for the toy commerical but very welcome and contains probably the highlight of the issue with SQUAWK.

Actually, no, the realisation that Red Alert isn't paranoid, he just knows he's in a work of fiction and can spot all the stock writing ticks is the highlight.

I do think it was an odd mistake to put this out before the next Ex-RID though, it's not just the recap page but the actual contents helpfully tell you the basics of what happened in that issue and some bits are just odd without the context (Blackrock. Oh Blackrock). Switching the release order hurts the "Main" story and I do think anyone especially interested in that should probably wait till next week for reading (apparently the two MTMTE issues happen after the two RID ones, which makes it more confusing. I would have thought ending both books with 55 and doing a five part miniseries with the issues in the right order would have made more sense...).

I picked up the paper copy of this today. Really nice work on Max and Red, and great to see them back. It offers a different feel to a regular MTMTE issue. I enjoyed Cerebros, but how has he not expressed any interest in Spinister; a character with the ability to reverse a lobotomy and teach it to Max. I wonder if Cerebros and Spinister were colleagues at The New Institute?

I also like the references back to Issue 6 (or whenever it was), re: Red's attempted suicide, confident that his readers can remember back that far, and especially the pattern of certain sparks in the ground referring to a single cutaway panel in Shadowplay.

Prowl comes across as very odd compared to his previous depictions in MTMTE. It doesn't quite feel like him. And how is Sentinel going to react when he finds out that Megatron is with the Autobots on the Lost Light?

Lots of other neat touches too, questioning Sentinel's age, and Outrigger... who I think only appeared in the text story at the end of Remain in Light?

The only thing that worries me is all the stuff at the end of the comic about crossovers of Mask, TF, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, The Get Along Gang, Planet Terry and god knows what else. I don't care about any of that, and I hope it interferes as little as possible. Just leave MTMTE alone please, its quite alright as it is.

I think the price has increased too, by about 50p. Same number of pages though.

"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie

I picked up the paper copy of this today. Really nice work on Max and Red, and great to see them back. It offers a different feel to a regular MTMTE issue. I enjoyed Cerebros, but how has he not expressed any interest in Spinister; a character with the ability to reverse a lobotomy and teach it to Max. I wonder if Cerebros and Spinister were colleagues at The New Institute?

Also makes you wonder what was done to Spinister to make him so paranoid. And as for crossovers, this... this is the ultimate: from Transformers vs GI Joe

"When did you first realize that he uses bad grammar to distract you whenever you raise an objection to something he wants to do?"

So does this mean that Sentinel is a big wheel at the new, or the old Institute? His mention of Pious would suggest perhaps the old, and that Cerebros is part of the new, which is why he hasn't turned to the dark side like Red.

Did Red get too close when snooping and they did the nasty on him, making him a set of eyes for their own purposes, like at the fancy tower block in Shadowplay. Momus's two body-gloved killers got in, but who let them in? As security guard was Red watching the skies as well as the ground (seems reasonable when you have sections of a race that can fly). Cyclonus once referred to Red Alert as being a nice guy, but a totally incompetent security guard. Perhaps before the Institute Red was a shit hot detective, on to the Institute long before people like Chromedome and Prowl. Perhaps his natural skills were diminished as a result of their brain tamperings?

And prior to the paranoia, did Red work with a team? i.e. Spinister; the only other character I can think of who may have been messed with by the Institute. And why mess with him in particular? Unless he was a dynamite surgeon who rebelled against the Institutes machinations, or he did it to protect himself?

I wonder if Max actually is Pious Maximus? Back in issue 6 (the hostage issue), Whirl referred to Max as being Warborn. And perhaps he was; bastardised from the peaceful Pious into the warmongering Fort Max thanks to some heavy Shadowplay and a colour redeco?

Was Spinister the one who did this to Pious, and Red was trying to get Spinister out of the Institute but failed? All too much guessing, but there must be so many brilliant stories from the past waiting to be told. I find this just as interesting as finding the Knights.

How come there's so little activity in this, a regular MTMTE thread? Were not many people able to get the comic in either form this time around? There's not a peep from Unicron, Warcry, Death's Head and the other regulars.

I assume because at present it's not really tied into the main story, it's just the current 'big event' forcing it's way into MTMTE.

To comment on various things:
I doubt Sentinel's Pious reference was anything Institute related. Pious was a public figure back in Sentinel's time, and would have been known to those in power as a dissident they'd like to silence.

Ever since Shadowplay and Whirl's 'Warborn' comment, I've been speculating that Fortress is Pious after some post-Institute fixing. No real evidence for it, or against it, though.

I don't think there's anything indicating the Institute did anything to Red beyond getting him to steer Prowl and Tumbler towards finding that Momus was a closet-Con.

Red joining Sentinel may not be due Institute tinkering. Or at least not changing his thoughts. I suspect Red turning is a result of Sovereign's energon dripping onto and seeping into the old mnemosurgery points on the back of his neck. Might be that allowed Sovereign to get control.

Spinister... for right now I'm not thinking Institute victim. I'm leaning more towards autistic savant-equivalent or perhaps a genius who is faking low intelligence to hide from something/one.

I read a quite cool theory at another site that Red might be a titan master too. The link being his unusual suicide method of removing the head before casting his own body into the oil reservoir. I guess that is a bit unusual, the only time a Transformer has ever bothered to willingly remove his own head has been for the Headmaster process.

The other interesting thing is Cerebros mentioning that Red left his door unlocked. That's comedy levels of ineptness for a security chief, and Red Alert isn't that dumb surely. Was he really yelling in his sleep, or was he having something done to him?

I bought this, but its kind of passed me by tbh. I've read it twice, but its just not stuck in my memory. Also, if this is part of a crossover, why no helpful 'next read this' style cross-promotion? Or am I supposed to be online 24/7 to follow where to go next? Or indeed, just the banner at the top of the cover like the Dark Cybertron stuff had.

Speaking of which...

I've been having a re-read of Dark Cybertron and enjoyed it a bit more but am still unchanged on my opinion on the following : Scoop and Rattrap are deeply irritating and I don't understand what their point or purpose is. Is Rattrap supposed to Jiminy Cricket to Starscream's Pinnochio? His character design is ugly as sh*t too. He looks like a tortoise without its shell. Shockwave's plan was utter nonsense. Maybe I missed something, but I didn't think seeding other planets with Energon was to turn them into the Transfomers equivalent of the Inifinty Gems, but more to secure a fuel source so the Transformers could continue to survive. The 'logical' outcome of all his experiments was to create some sort of feedback loop that would destroy everything except Cybertron itself? Really? Why? What sort of helpful science is that? There'd be no benefit as everyone would be dead. Bobbins.

Onto Season Two and just up to the Functionist Universe stuff, which is still one of my favourite issues. All proper 1984/ Brazil style horrors wrought on the population (something I often feel we're sleep-walking into). Brilliant.

RE: The Ores. It seems that the ore on Earth was the only one that evolved correctly, and the planet that Kup was stranded on was one that was seeded and went haywire. Presumably after finding out what happened to the other ores Shockwave went nuts and decided to bring about the end of the universe. Or something

"When did you first realize that he uses bad grammar to distract you whenever you raise an objection to something he wants to do?"

How come there's so little activity in this, a regular MTMTE thread? Were not many people able to get the comic in either form this time around? There's not a peep from Unicron, Warcry, Death's Head and the other regulars.

I've two reasons why this hasnt grabbed me. Number one, is that the muddle with the release dates for exRID made it hard to judge until that comic came out. But also, much as I enjoy seeing Alert and Maximus along with the general overall plot, this feels like filler - something that doesnt bring out the best in MTMTE. You get so used to nothing being throw away, even in the light issues that this just doesnt feel quite worth the effort.

That sounds awful, because its not bad at all. I guess it just feels out of place in the overall scheme.

For my part, after the garbage that was Dark Cybertron and Combiner Wars I'm ignoring this toy-driven crossover bullshit as much as I possibly can. I'm not even entirely sure if I've actually read the issue or just seen snippets of it floating around, but I don't even care enough to download it and find out.

Plus I'm not super inclined to read comics starring Robot Trump as the antagonist when I can't get away from talk about the real one in my day-to-day life.

I don't think there's anything indicating the Institute did anything to Red beyond getting him to steer Prowl and Tumbler towards finding that Momus was a closet-Con.

Red joining Sentinel may not be due Institute tinkering. Or at least not changing his thoughts. I suspect Red turning is a result of Sovereign's energon dripping onto and seeping into the old mnemosurgery points on the back of his neck. Might be that allowed Sovereign to get control.